The Naming
by wolfstar shines bright
Summary: The Rum Tum Tugger finds our favorite magical cat one night and decides to raise him. The story of how Misto and Tugger got together.
1. Chapter 1

Dark….

Wet….

Cold….

Deep within the shadows of a deserted London alley, a young tom, still a kitten really, shivered and curled in on himself. He closed his eyes tightly and tried not to remember.

But remember he did.

First there had been warmth in the den, despite the rain outside, the soft mewls of his siblings, the soothing purr of Mother. But then there was searing heat and fright and a large ginger tom with fire in his eyes. He remembered Mother telling him to run in the confusion and run he did. He ran so very fast and far that he scraped his paws on the rocky streets and had no idea where he was. He had lived with Mother in an old abandoned house on the outskirts of the city. Now he was within the city proper and while he couldn't hear the sounds of struggle anymore he remembered the smell of blood and ran on. Eventually he had to stop. Trembling from exhaustion and fear he crept into a dark side street as night began to fall.

He laid down, mindful of his bloody paws and began licking them clean. He thought about his paws- all white except for one- and he thought about his body fur- black except for his face and chest- and he very carefully didn't think about Mother, his Naming ceremony, the fight at his den, the strange fiery tom….

He shivered, sneezed twice, and blinked rain from his eyes. He was tired and the area seemed safe enough for unmolested sleep. There were no scent marks to warn him away. No signs of other cats or pollicles. He settled down for a fitful slumber in the darkest corner where discarded junk made for some shelter against the rain.

He dreamed of things best left unsaid.

* * *

The Rum Tum Tugger swaggered out of the the Jellicle junkyard, out from Munkustrap's watchful eye and hopefully into some trouble. He was eager to meet new queens and see new sights and maybe get into a bit of trouble. Sometimes the junkyard was stifling to a gregarious tom like him.

He smoothed and fluffed his mane as he strutted down the street; it was a beautiful night and he was a beautiful cat and he could feel eyes on him. He noticed an unremarkable grey alley cat slinking up to him. Not to his taste but he did so hate to disappoint.

Later, as the grey queen talked with him, he was bored enough to think on his current situation in the junkyard. There were always eyes on him; after Munkustrap he was Old Deuteronomy's next heir and son. If someone wasn't commenting on his actions they were telling him what to do, or asking him to do something. He sighed and interrupted the queen with a quick "Gotta go."

He walked away from her without a backwards glance like he wished he could do with his life. Well, not really. There were definite perks to being the Rum Tum Tugger- an endless parade of willing queens, a steady food supply, and a safe place to stay. Speaking of food his recent conversation left him hungry. He moved toward an unfrequented alley he knew of where the plumpest mice gathered.

He slowly walked down the alley, giving a wiggle of his hips for hunting , just as he caught the scent of a mouse he smelled something else. Something feline. Was it an alley cat interfering with his hunt? He gave a warning hiss and heard a small whimper. He crept toward the darkest corner of the alley where a discarded car hood gave off dark shadows in the moonlight.

"Who's there", he called out sharply. He managed to make out a cowering shape in the shadows but it was far too small to be a thieving alley cat. 'It's just a kid' he realized. Now he felt slightly sheepish which was not a good feeling for the Rum Tum Tugger. He set out to rectify that feeling.

Clearing his throat, he spoke again, more gently."Uh, you can come out kid. Are you lost?" The kitten slowly crawled foward, revealing himself to be a male tuxedo cat with a white face and three white paws.

Tugger could smell singed fur and knelt down to see if the small cat was burnt anywhere. He recoiled as he got a good whiff of the kitten. Macavity's scent was all over him. Tugger sighed for the second time that night- practically a record. 'The Hidden paw strikes again' he thought ruefully. Suddenly a small voice interrupted his musings.

"Please, can you find my mother? I don't know how to get back home."

Tugger cocked his head at the small kitten and prepared to give out some bad news.

* * *

The kitten was still frightened by the appearance of the large tom but he seemed nice enough and he might be able to help the kitten back home. the tom began to speak and the kitten settled down to listen. As the tom spoke the kitten's whole demeanor changed from hopeful to despairing. The tom was telling him horrible things about a cat called Macavity and his Mother and siblings. The tom was explaining about death. After the tom finished the kitten cried softly for a while, lost in his grief.

* * *

Tugger felt bad for making the kid cry. He shuddered; he hated crying. He tried his best to cheer the kitten up.

"If you come with me to the Jellicle junkyard we can search for your mother. And if we don't find her she's probably in Heaviside layer- a better place for her."

The kitten looked up at that. "Really?", he breathed.

"Yup", Tugger confirmed, nodding his head for emphasis. "So what do you say kid? Do you want to come live with me?"

The kitten chewed on his lower lip and ducked his head. "But we're said to never go anywhere with strangers."

Tugger chuckled. "Well, I'm the one and only Rum Tum Tugger", he said proudly," and now we're not strangers. You may call me Tugger. All my friends do", he winked.

The kitten nodded seriously. " I would like to go with you... Tugger", he added shyly.

"Good", Tugger said. " We'll take good care of you and protect you- in case _He_ comes back."

The kitten nodded and the two set off for the Jellicle junkyard together, the kitten pausing and sniffing carefully before leaving the relative safety of the alleyway.

"So", Tugger said, "I've told you my name". He waited but the kitten was not forthcoming. 'Well , he murmered, slanting his eyes at the kit, "What's your name?"

The kitten stopped walking and looked at Tugger. "I don't have one. My naming ceremony was suppoed to be today but...", he trailed off.

"Oh", Tugger exclaimed. "Well then I'll name you. You look like a...a...umm... You look like a Quaxo. That'll do until your official naming ceremony when you become a tom. You can be Quaxo."

Quaxo smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

As Tugger and Quaxo walked in the rain, Tugger noticed the kitten limping a little.

"You OK, kid?" he asked, gruffly but concerned in his own way.

Quaxo ducked his head and regarded his scraped paws. He didn't want to complain but they were starting to really hurt. They were bleeding again too.

"It's my paws", Quaxo mumbled softly, "I scraped them when I was running. It's nothing".

it looked serious to Tugger. He frowned, worried, and moved to pick the kitten up in his mouth. When Quaxo was firmly seated he hurried to the junkyard's main entrance. Tugger would take him to Jennyanydots.

At the junk yard he was met by a startled Munkustrap.

"Tugger! Who's that? What's happened? Where have you been? What did you _do_?"

Tugger spat Quaxo out gently and indulgently let the frightened kitten cower under his sopping mane. "To answer all of your questions- Quaxo, Macavity,out, and nothing. Now could you answer one of mine? Where's Jenny? I need her help."

Munkustrap was not amused. "Those are not satisfactory answers. I can see that you need Jenny now but as soon as you're finished with her come to the meeting area. We can discuss this"- he indicated Quaxo-" with Father. As for Jenny, she's in her den."

"Fine", Tugger replied, curtly. He picked up Quaxo again and ran towards Jenny's den.

* * *

Quaxo was mostly in pain but he was also plenty frightened. That large grey tabby had scared him and he could feel eyes on him as Tugger ran. 'It's probably just curious residents of the junkyard', he tried to reassure himself but after his run-in with Macavity, every stranger seemed like a new threat. While he was scaring himself, Tugger had stopped.

He felt himself being lowered to the ground again in front of a discarded icebox. He winced; his paws stung!

"Jenny", Tugger called urgently.

The icebox began to open and Quaxo found himself paralysed with fear. Who was this Jenny? _What_ was this Jenny? Would it hurt him?

Suddenly, the icebox was open, revealing a large queen with a kind expression on her face.

"Rum Tum Tugger, is that you? How are you? Oh! And who is this?", she asked, noticing Quaxo.

Quaxo went very still for a moment then crept foward under her gaze. She nuzzled and sniffed him gently.

"Your paws I see", she murmered."I can fix that, don't you worry".

She continued her mothering as Quaxo paws were cleaned and bandaged in no time and Tugger was sternly ordered to bring him back in a weeks time. Quaxo thanked her sincerly.

As they were turning to go Quaxo asked, "Aren't you going to say 'thank you' Tugger"? Tugger blinked at him, looked at Jenny, who was watching amusedly, and managed a grudging "Thanks".

Jennyanydots was smiling openly now and giggled out "You're welcome, Tugger dear."

The two of them walked off together towards a tunnel Tugger said would take them to the meeting place, Quaxo hobbling along with four bandaged paws.

* * *

Author's notes

This chapter is very short but it seemed like a good stopping place and I want the meeting with Old D. to be its own chapter. There will be characterisation in it. (Yay!) In this chapter, I don't feel like I did a good job. i will probably go back and add more. I wanted tugger to start being affected by Quaxo's sweetness. ( The Rum Tum Tugger does not _do_ Thank Yous) Thanks for reading my very first story ever. I don't think I'm any good at this writing thing but two people reviewed so I felt like I owed the chapter to those nice people.

Mischief Managed

wolfstar


	3. Chapter 3

Tugger, while eager to leave Jenny, was not looking forward to the meeting with his father, Old Deuteronomy. He hated the old cat and loved him just as fiercely. The same could be said of his brother, Munkustrap. They were the pillars of the Jellicle community and while he respected that, he resented the expectations they had for him. He was playful, mischievous, and intensely curious. He didn't want to be a leader; he just wanted to be Tugger.

Now he was depressing himself. The Rum Tum Tugger does not do depression. That was for middle-aged queens and washed up toms. To cheer himself up as he walked with Quaxo in the tunnels of the junkyard, he began to dance and hum.

Quaxo stopped and watched him with wide eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Tugger laughed as he swiveled his hips back and forth. "I forgot that non-Jellicles don't dance. This is my dance, kid. Every Jellicle has one."

"I want to dance too", said Quaxo excitedly. He rose up and tried to imitate Tugger's moves. He was clumsy on his bandaged paws but Tugger could tell that Quaxo had an innate grace. The kitten tried to do an ambitious turn on his hind legs and promptly tumbled out of the tunnel. Tugger chuckled and leapt out after him. Quaxo was dancing with his eyes closed in sheer bliss. Tugger eagerly joined him, all traces of depression wiped away by a kitten's laugh.

The pair danced in the rain gleefully until a gently cleared throat made them open their eyes. They were in the main clearing and Old Deuteronomy stood before them.

"Hello my son", Old Deuteronomy said kindly. "Munkustrap has called a meeting about your guest. Please sit." Old Deuteronomy moved slowly towards the tire he favored in the clearing.

As he walked, Munkustrap and his mate, Demeter crawled their way out from under a nearby junked car where they had taken shelter from the rain.

"Let this meeting commence", Munkustrap said importantly.

"Oh, stop being so formal Munk," Tugger drawled. "You're scaring the kid."

Quaxo was indeed frightened and cowered under Tugger as each adult cat showed up.

Munkustrap frowned. He hadn't meant to frighten the kitten- intimidate Tugger a little but never scare a kitten.

"The meeting was kept as small as possible so as not to frighten the kitten. I apologize if my actions or words have made you uncomfortable little one. Now, on to business."

He addressed Quaxo, "What is your name and business at the Jellicle junkyard?"

"Umm",Quaxo said shyly," I'm Quaxo and I'm here because Tugger said I could be?"

"How did Tugger come to find you?"

"I was lost and Tugger found me," Quaxo had gained more confidence now, even creeping out from under Tugger a little.

Demeter jumped in suddenly with, "Where is your family, Quaxo?

Quaxo blinked rain out of his eyes, shuffled his paws,and generally hesitated to answer. Tugger answered for him, uncharecteristically solemn.

"Macavity."

Demeter flinched violently at the name. Old Deuteronomy sighed and the harsh lines of Munkustrap's face softened.

Quaxo's ears went down.

"We will give you a home if _he_ was the cause of your family's death. Do you have any relatives that weren't in the attack?" Munkustrap was terribly saddened by the tragedy and willing to try his best to help.

"There's Uncle Bustopher."

"Bustopher? As in Bustopher jones?", Munkustrap asked surprised. He and Demeter exchanged glances. Bustopher Jones led a wandering life on the streets. Getting chased out of pubs and clubs and constantly on the move. That was no life for a small kitten.

Tugger looked at Quaxo, surprised. The kitten hadn't mentioned anything about living relatives.

Quaxo took a deep breath and said, all in a rush, "ButIdon'twannalivewithhim,IwannalivewithTugger."

"What?" Munkustrap, Demeter and Tugger looked at each other, bemused.

"Tugger is nice and funny and he protects me and he takes care of me. I like him." Quaxo was very determined.

Tugger stared at Quaxo."You serious kid?" Quaxo smiled at him and nodded.

Munkustrap cleared his throat." If you are to stay here, then I suppose Old Deuteronomy should welcome you to the tribe.

Old Deuteronomy stood up and walked down to Quaxo. "I can see that you will be a good addition to the tribe. Live well and be happy my kitten. Tugger?

Tugger looked up. "Yes?"

"Can you find it within you to care for this kit properly?"

"I can... I think", he added under his breath.

"Then I give my blessing. Take the kitten to meet his fellow jellicles, give him some food, and put him to bed. This meeting is adjourned."

Demeter was horrified." You can't leave that poor kitten with _Tugger!_ He needs stability. Put him with Jenny, she'll take him."

"Hey! I can raise him just fine", Tugger spat back."I named him and I got Jenny to fix his paws and I'm staying with him."

Old Deuteronomy nodded."The power of naming is very important to Jellicles. Tugger and Quaxo will be forever tied together."

Tugger shifted uneasily. He didn't know if he liked the sound of that.

But it seemed that what was done, was done. With no more objections to be heard Munkustrap, Demeter, and Old Deuteronomy left Quaxo and Tugger together, alone.

"Looks like you're stuck with me kid",Tugger said ruefully.

Quaxo smiled up at Tugger's words and the sun finally came out.

* * *

Author's Notes

Next chapter we'll see how the tribe reacts to their new member and Tugger becomes a member of the Cult of Domesticity.

I'm starting to like this authoring stuff. I hope you like my writing and don't be afraid to give me criticism. It's how authors get better.

Mischief Managed

Wolfstar


End file.
